Speeches and Statements

On December 30, 2022, at approximately 6:30 a.m., Border Patrol agents assigned to the El Paso Sector Intelligence Unit Evidence Collection Team encountered a male subject approximately four miles northeast of the Bridge of Americas, near El Paso, Texas. The male, a United States citizen, was walking in the middle of Airway Boulevard unclothed from the waist down and posing a traffic hazard to traveling vehicles. Intelligence Unit agents approached the man in their unmarked vehicle, with their emergency lights activated, but the man refused to leave the roadway.

On January 2, 2023, Border Patrol agents assigned to the Eagle Pass Border Patrol station apprehended a woman, a Cuban national, approximately two miles south of the Eagle Pass, Texas International Bridge II. Agents transported the woman to the Firefly Soft Sided Processing Facility located in Eagle Pass. The woman was booked into the processing facility at approximately 10:33 a.m. The woman was medically screened at approximately 11:44 a.m., and she informed the Border Patrol processing coordinator that she had high blood pressure and was taking prescribed medication.

*Please note there was an internal delay in the posting of this statement. Notifications to Congress were completed in a timely fashion. In an effort to fulfill our responsibilities and commitment to transparency and accountability, we are completing our public post at this time.

The following statement concerns an agent involved shooting which occurred near Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, on Thursday, November 17, 2022. The information is based on a preliminary review by U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility and may be updated with additional information.

La siguiente declaración se refiere a un agente involucrado en un tiroteo que ocurrió cerca de Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, el jueves 17 de noviembre de 2022. La información se basa en una revisión preliminar realizada por la Oficina de Responsabilidad Profesional de Aduanas y Protección Fronteriza de EE. UU. y puede actualizarse con información adicional. 

On November 11, 2022, at approximately 1:45 a.m., an off-duty Border Patrol Agent arrived and parked his personal vehicle in the lot of an apartment complex in San Antonio, Texas. The agent began walking through the parking lot heading to an apartment after parking and exiting his vehicle and spotted two individuals who appeared to be breaking into a Dodge Ram pickup truck. The agent then confronted the two subjects and told them to leave the premises.

On November 6, 2022, at approximately 11:20 a.m., a Border Patrol remote camera operator spotted a group of five individuals climbing up the International Border Barrier, approximately 4.2 miles southeast of the Veterans International Bridge, near Brownsville, Texas. The camera operator broadcasted the information via radio to Border Patrol agents assigned to the Fort Brown Border Patrol Station. Agents responded to an area known as “Shrivers”, located approximately 75 yards north of the border barrier, where they encountered and apprehended two individuals.

The following statement pertains to an agent involved shooting that occurred near San Luis, Arizona, on Sunday, October 30, 2022. The following information is based on a preliminary review by Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility and may be updated with additional information.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus issued the following statement following an incident in El Paso on October 31, 2022:

“I am monitoring reports surrounding events in El Paso in which several hundred migrants attempted to enter the United States without authorization along the Rio Grande River International Boundary, near downtown El Paso.

On September 25, 2022, a Border Patrol agent assigned to the Uvalde Border Patrol Station and two Army National Guardsmen on federal duty were conducting freight train inspections at Yucca Siding in Knippa, Texas, approximately 14 miles northeast of Uvalde, Texas. The National Guardsman observed several suspected migrants on the east bound freight train at approximately 6:14 a.m.

Miami – A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer working at the agency’s weapons range was injured while on duty and pronounced deceased Oct. 19.  CBP is cooperating with the investigation which is being led by the Miami-Dade Police Department. For information, please reach out to Angel Rodriguez from the police department at 305-216-7956 or via email at aar@mdpd.com.

On August 24, 2022, at approximately 1:40 p.m., Border Patrol agents assigned to the Carrizo Springs Border Patrol Station apprehended three undocumented migrants from Mexico. The group was apprehended approximately 1.25 miles east of the Carrizo Springs Border Patrol Station along Texas Highway 85.  Border Patrol agents transported the migrants to the Carrizo Springs Border Patrol Station, arriving at approximately 2:10 p.m. 

On October 4, 2022, at approximately 10:40 a.m. and about 3.4 miles northwest of the Ysleta Port of Entry, Border Patrol agents encountered a suspected undocumented migrant, a male citizen of Mexico. Agents apprehended the man and transported him to the Ysleta Border Patrol Station, which is located in El Paso, Texas and booked him into the Ysleta Border Patrol Station at 11:12 a.m.

SANTA TERESA, N.M. - On August 15, 2022, at approximately 4:45 a.m., U.S. Border Patrol agents driving unmarked vehicles were conducting anti-smuggling operations in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, when they observed a Ford Escape and an Acura sedan sitting stationary at a green traffic light on Industrial Road.

On October 2, 2022, at approximately 3:58 p.m., a Border Patrol agent assigned to the Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue team encountered three individuals on the shoulder of Interstate 8 in Imperial County, Calif., near the Imperial Sand Dunes, approximately two and one quarter miles north of the U.S./Mexico border. Upon the initial encounter, one of the individuals fled in a grey Mercedes and was subsequently apprehended by another Border Patrol agent.

On September 2, 2022, at approximately 12:21 p.m., an off-duty Border Patrol agent observed a group of suspected undocumented migrants located approximately 17 miles west of Winterhaven, Calif. The off-duty agent notified El Centro Sector Border Patrol Communications and Border Patrol agents were dispatched to the area. At approximately 12:30 p.m., a Border Patrol agent located a group of three individuals, including an unresponsive woman, later identified as a citizen of Mexico.

On September 1, 2022, at approximately 9:19 p.m., a vehicle arrived from Canada at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge in Lewiston, New York. The driver of the vehicle, a U.S. citizen, could not find his identification to provide to the Customs and Border Protection officer working the primary inspection lane. The officer allowed him to search for his passport in the trunk of his vehicle, but he was unable to locate it. 

On August 2, 2022, at approximately 5:53 a.m., Border Patrol Agents received a report of multiple groups of suspected undocumented migrants in an area known as Avocado Landing, located east of El Faro Road near Los Ebanos, Texas. Three agents responded to the area and conducted a foot search around 5:57 a.m.

On August 3, 2022, at approximately 3:29 p.m., a remote video surveillance system operator spotted a group of migrants crossing the primary International Border Barrier near the San Ysidro, Calif., Port of Entry.
 

Updated Statement:

On July 28, 2022, at approximately 1:09 p.m., a Cochise County Sheriff’s Office deputy attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a vehicle with a temporary license plate on Davis Road near mile marker 18 between the towns of Tombstone and McNeal, Ariz.; the vehicle failed to yield. The sheriff’s deputy stopped the pursuit due to the driver’s erratic driving and issued a be-on-the-lookout bulletin for the vehicle to county-wide law enforcement agencies.

On July 9 at approximately 4:07 a.m., a Border Patrol agent operating a surveillance camera system notified the local Border Patrol sector that a group of migrants was making illegal entry into the U.S., approximately one-half mile southeast of the Rio Grande Port of Entry near Rio Grande City, Texas, where the Los Olmos Creek flows into the Rio Grande River.

On July 22, 2022, Border Patrol agents assigned to the All-Terrain Vehicle Unit from the Deming, New Mexico Border Patrol Station were following foot tracks in a secluded area in the Deming station’s area of responsibility. One of the agents observed an individual walking towards him, who informed the agent that a migrant from his group needed help and proceeded to guide the agent to an area near Inmon Road and Brazil Road, approximately 16 miles northeast of the Columbus Port of Entry where the man was located. 

On June 30, at approximately 8:28 a.m., a Jeep Wrangler circumvented the United States Border Patrol checkpoint, located at mile marker 29 of Interstate Highway 35, using the west access road of IH-35. A Border Patrol agent parked on the west access road between mile markers 30 and 31 heard a report of the Jeep Wrangler via radio and within a few minutes, the vehicle passed the Border Patrol agent’s location. The agent observed a male driver, who appeared to be the vehicle’s sole occupant. The agent, operating a marked U.S.

On June 8, a Border Patrol agent assigned to the El Paso U.S. Border Patrol Station was working line watch duties when he observed four suspected migrants running north from the Rio Grande River towards the International Border Barrier, approximately one and a quarter miles east of the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry in El Paso, Texas. The International Border Barrier is situated between the U.S./Mexico international border and the American Canal. The Border Patrol agent drove his U.S.